Fields comes through in final minute to send Pittsburgh to Elite 8

Friday

Mar 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 27, 2009 at 8:48 AM

The senior guard hit a clutch 3-pointer to give the Panthers the lead with 53 seconds to go and added a layup following a turnover as the top-seeded team in the East Regional eliminates fourth-seeded Xavier at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Jim Fenton

The same painful scenario appeared to be taking shape once again for the Pittsburgh men’s basketball team on Thursday night.

After being stopped in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament on four occasions earlier this decade, the Panthers entered the final minute of their East Regional semifinal-round game trailing by two points.

Fields hit a clutch 3-pointer with 53 seconds remaining, then converted a layup after helping force a turnover, sending the Panthers on the way to a 60-55 victory over fourth-seeded Xavier at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Pittsburgh (31-4) will play the winner of Thursday night’s Duke-Villanova game on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Fields’ 3-pointer put Pittsburgh in front, 55-54, and his layup after a steal by DeJuan Blair opened the advantage to 57-54 with 24 seconds to go.

“I never get tired of watching Levance take big shots,’’ said Panthers coach Jamie Dixon, “because he’s made them year after year and our guys believe in him and I believe in him, and that’s all that matters.’’

Pittsburgh had reached the Sweet 16 in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2007, only to fall one game short of the regional final.

The Panthers survived a rather ugly game with Xavier (27-8) to break through this time and are in the Elite 8 for the first time since 1974 when it was a 32-team tourney.

“It definitely means a lot for us as players, the coaches, the university and the city,’’ said Sam Young, who had 19 points and made two clutch foul shots to seal the win. “This is something everyone has been waiting for for a long time. But at the same time, we feel like we’ve still got work to do.’’

Pittsburgh trailed, 37-29, at the half, but the Musketeers, who were led by B.J. Raymond (15) and Derrick Brown (14) hit a cold spell after the break.

Xavier went 2-for-16 to open the second half but remained in the game when the Panthers struggled offensively as well in a game that included 14 lead changes and 10 ties.

The Musketeers were less than a minute away from moving on, but Fields prevented that from happening.

“We ran our go-to play down the stretch with me and DeJuan on a ball screen,’’ said Fields, who had 14 points and six assists. “The defender did a good job getting over, but I did an in-and-out move which created just enough space on got him on his heels a little bit.

“Once I got the separation, I took the shot and I had all the confidence it would go in.’’

The Panthers, who join Connecticut from the Big East in the Elite 8, have not won any of their three NCAA tourney games in style, but they are alive.

“We’re a confident group,’’ said Fields. “We understand no game is going to be easy. We still haven’t played our best basketball.

“The positive is in all three games, when we needed to makes plays, we made them. We’re making plays down the stretch when the game is on the line. We keep advancing.’’